Beyond the Limits

I, Kwesi Dugbatey, M.D., Ph.D., was born to illiterate parents in a small village in the Gold Coast, now known as Ghana, West Africa. After an initial training as a carpenter in a village, I had the chance to go to elementary school. Surprisingly, I did so well at the end of this initial schooling that I qualified for a government scholarship for Junior as well as Senior High School. While in Junior and Senior High, I struggled to learn another Ghanaian native language, Ga, in addition to English. I also made friends with two particular colleagues from the Ga tribe. Both of these friends assisted me in various ways to endure to the end.

Thanks to God, I ended Senior High so well that I qualified for another government scholarship, this time, to go to Germany to study Medicine. On finishing Medical school, I returned to Ghana to join the Ghana military. Two years later, I was sent to London to specialize in Aviation Medicine. Soon after coming back to Ghana as a specialist in Aviation Medicine, the government was overthrown by a junior pilot in the military. This pilot then asked me to take over the Ministry of Health. After about a year in this position, I had the news that a group of soldiers wanted to kill me. I then had to flee Ghana, as a refugee. Because I had previously served several diplomats, particularly Americans, as a physician, the American Embassy assisted me to go to the US, granting me citizenship. I had spent 20 years in the US, returning to Ghana in 2006. My autobiography, "Beyond the Limits," is an account of my life and what brought me to where I now stand.